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Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

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http://www.archive.org/details/washingtonstreet1913baco 


asnincfion 
Street 


(J^\  cJaatw  Miaav/v^    ^O/UCrvv^J 


/~y/I  History  in  JwarratWe 
(-/--*■  Form  of  the  Changes 
crlYEich  this_y£hcient 
Street  has  Undergone  since 
the  Settlement  of  Boston. 


COPYRIGHT,   1913 

MACULLAR  PARKER   COMPANY 

BOSTON 


F73;fc7 


179649 


MACULLAR    PARKER    COMPANY,    PRESENT  LOCATION,    398  400    WASHINGTON    STREET 


F  all  the  old  streets  of  New  England  there  is  none 
which  can  boast  of  a  more  notable  history  than 
Washington  Street,  and  no  part  of  the  present  long 
thoroughfare  is  more  interesting  in  this  respect  than 
the  short  section,  or  link,  between  School  and  Milk 
Streets  and  Summer  and  Winter  Streets,  known 
through  Colony  and  Province  days  and  till  long 
after  the  Revolution  as  Marlborough  Street,  of  which  this  little  book 
especially  treats. 

The  story  of  this  street  is  the  story  of  Boston's  first  thoroughfare 
and  begins  with  the  beginnings  of  Boston.  As  the  first  "  High  Waye 
towards  Roxburie,"  then  the  only  avenue  to  the  mainland,  composed 
of  the  first  twisting  roads  and  paths  struck  out  in  succession  through 


the  length  of  the  originally  "  pear-shaped  "  peninsula  and  over  its 
slender  stem  —  the  mile-long,  tide-washed  Neck, —  this  thoroughfare 
was  distinctively  the  first  Boston  Main  Street. 

At  the  outset  the  highway  was  but  the  germ  of  a  thoroughfare ; 
and  for  more  than  thirty  years  from  the  town's  start  it  extended  no 
further  than  to  the  present  Boylston  Street  line.  Beyond  that  line, 
or  above  Essex  Street,  there  was  during  this  time  only  a  footpath 
or  rough  cartway  "  towards  Roxburie."  And  after  further  extension 
was  effected  Boylston  Street  yet  remained  practically  the  thorough- 
fare's terminus  with  respect  to  its  occupation  by  shops,  taverns, 
dwellings,  and  mansion  houses,  throughout  the  Colony  period  and  for 
the  greater  part  of  the  Province  period.  Beyond  Boylston  Street 
there  were  few  houses  upon  it  and  fewer  shops  till  after  the  Revolu- 
tion. Above  Dover  Street  there  were  before  the  Revolution  very 
few  inhabitants  ;  and  so  late  as  1800  only  one  or  two  houses  were 
counted  from  the  site  of  the  present  Cathedral  of  the  Holy  Cross  to 
Roxbury. 


CORNER  SPRING  LANE  AND  WASHINGTON  STREET  IN  1870 


THE  OLD  SOUTH  CHURCH  IN  COLONIAL  DAYS,  FROM  AN  OLD  LITHOGRAPH 


THE  OLD  STATE  HOUSE  IN  1796 


The  first  link,  which  was  marked  out  with  the  town's  initial  street- 
ways  and  lanes,  comprises  the  bow  between  the  present  Adams  Square 
and  School  Street.  This  led  from  the  Town  Dock,  at  Dock  Square, 
around  by  the  town's  first  central  point,  where  were  the  "sawe- 
pitte  "  for  turning  out  the  logs  for  the  first  houses,  the  first  market- 
place, the  first  stocks  and  whipping  post,  and  later  the  first  Town- 
House,  now  marked  by  the  Old  State  House  ;  and  thence  to  the  house- 
lots  and  gardens  of  first  settlers  southward.  The  second  link,  shortly 
added,  extended  from  School  to  Summer  Street,  then  "  The  Mylne 
Street,"  or  "Mill  Lane,"  leading  to  "Widow  Tuthill's  Windmill" 
(she  the  relict  of  Richard  Tuttle,  miller,  succeeding  to  his  business) 
which  stood  near  the  point  that  became  the  "  Church  Green  "  of 
after  days,  at  the  present  junction  of  Summer  and  Bedford  Streets. 
The  third  link  was  an  early  extension  to  Boylston  Street,  at  that  time 
11  Frogg  Lane  "  running  alongside  the  Common  toward  the  Back  Bay, 
which  then  made  up  to  the  present  Park  Square.  At  the  end  of  this 
third  link  connection  was  made  with  the  first  path  to  Roxbury,  a  rough 
beach  road,  which  ran  from  near  the  Essex  Street  corner  along  the  South 
Cove  beach.  The  South  Cove  then  stretched  westerly  to  within  a 
short  distance  of  the  present  line  of  Washington  Street  near  Essex 
Street,  and  north  of  Beach  Street,  which  originally  was  a  beach ;  and 
here,  turning  southward,  it  ran  parallel  with  the  Washington- Street 
line  up  to  the  line  of  the  present  Dover  Street  and  beyond,  a  strip  of 


THE  OLD  SOUTH  CHURCH  AS  IT  APPEARS  TODAY 


WASHINGTON  STREET,  LOOKING  NORTH  FROM  TEMPLE  PLACE 


land  intervening  between  the  water  and  road  wide  enough  only  to 
provide  a  single  houselot  in  depth.  On  the  west  side  the  Back  Bay 
turned  toward  the  Washington  Street  line  at  about  where  Pleasant 
Street  enters,  and  swept  close  to  this  line  at  Dover  Street. 

These  three  links  —  from  the  Town  Dock  to  Frog  Lane  —  con- 
stituted the  thoroughfare  till  1663  or  1664,  when  the  further  extension 
beyond  to  Dover  Street,  or  to  the  "  Old  Fortification,"  a  little  south 
of  Dover  Street,  at  practically  then  the  town's  end,  was  laid  out.  The 
"  Old  Fortification  "  was  the  remnant  of  a  fort  early  built  in  place  of 
the  first  barrier  erected  at  this  point  as  a  defence  against  any  sudden 
attack  by  Indians.  It  had  two  gates,  one  for  teams,  the  other  for  foot 
passers.  Regular  watches  and  wards  were  maintained  here,  and  the 
gates  were  closed  at  sundown. 

Just  outside  the  Fortification  the  Neck  was  at  its  narrowest. 
At  this  point  was  the  inner  Roxbury  Gate  also  early  set  up.  The 
outer  Gate,  "  &  Style  next  vnto  Roxburie,"  was  erected  at  the  Rox- 
bury line,  marked  now  by  a  memorial  stone  in  the  thoroughfare. 
Between  the  two  Gates  were  upland  and  swamp,  the  latter  flowed  by  the 
tides.  In  early  days  the  Neck  was  a  perilous  place,  particularly  in  the 
rough  seasons.  Winthrop  relates  under  date  of  March,  1639,  how, 
"one    of  Roxbury"    having  sent   to   Boston   "his    servant   maid  for  a 


CORNER  WASHINGTON  AND  SUMMER  STREETS  LOOKING  TOWARD  THE  COMMON 

IN  1856 


barber  chirurgeon  to  draw  his  tooth,"  maid  and  barber  "  lost  their  way 
in  their  passage  between,  during  a  violent  snowstorm,"  and  how  they 
11  were  not  found  until  many  days  after,  and  then  the  maid  was  found 
in  one  place,  and  the  man  in  another  both  frozen  to  death."  Nearly 
half  a  century  later  Judge  Sewall  recorded  in  his  inimitable  Diary : 
11  Novr.  26  [1685].  Mary  an  Indian,  James's  Squaw,  was  Frozen 
to  death  upon  the  Neck  near  Roxbury  Gate  on  Thorsday  night  Novr 
27th,  '85,  being  fudled." 

The  connecting  Neck  roads  were  earliest  maintained  by  individuals 
having  grants  from  the  Neck  Commons  conditioned  upon  such  main- 
tenance;  or  earlier  paid  for  such  service.  The  connecting  highway 
on  the  Roxbury  side  is  recorded  as  laid  out  between  the  Boston  line 
and  Roxbury  Street  in  1662.  Before  that  it  apparently  was  a  rough 
cartway. 


Our  thoroughfare  was  variously  designated  through  the  Colony 
period, —  "  The  High  Waye  towards  Roxburie,"  "  The  High  Street," 
"The  Broad  Way,"  "The  Town  High  Way  to  Roxbury,"  "The 
Broad  Street,"  "The  Great  Road  Leading  to  Roxbury," — and  its 
several  links  were  without  official  names  till  well  into  the  second  decade 
of  the  Province  period.  In  fact,  none  of  the  streets,  lanes,  or  alleys 
of  the  town,  though  generally  informally  named,  bore  official  names 
till  the  year  1708.      Seven  years  earlier,  September,  1701,  the  select- 


CORNER  OF  WASHINGTON  AND  COURT  STREETS,  PRESENT  SITE  OF  THE  AMES  BUILDING 


T¥Fli/l 

Movsfctofiit.vt. 


if  11  Griff  f 


THE  BEGINNING  OF  WASHINGTON  STREET,  LOOKING  TOWARD  DOCK 

1860 


SQUARE  ABOUT 


men  were  empowered  by  town-meeting  vote  to  "assign  and  affix 
Names  unto  the  Severall  streets  &  Lanes  within  this  Town,  so  as  they 
shall  judg  meet  and  convenient,"  but  the  business  was  not  completed 
till  that  time.  In  the  list  then  adopted  and  caused  to  be  recorded  in 
the  "  Town  Book,"  the  thoroughfare's  links  are  found  thus  defined 
and  designated,  reckoned  in  order  from  the  southward  —  at  the  Old 
Fortification : 

"  The  broad  Street  or  Highway  from  ye  Old  Fortification  on  ye  neck  Leading 
into  ye  Town  as  far  as  the  Corner  of  ye  Late  Deacon  Eliots  House Orange  Street. 

' '  The  Street  from  ye  corner  of  the  House  in  ye  Tenure  of  Cap*  Turfrey  nigb 
Deacon  Eliots  Corner  leading  into  Town  by  ye  House  of  Sam11  Sewall  Esqr  as  far 
as  Doct  Okes  Corner Newbery  Street. 

"  The  Broad  Street  leading  from  Penemans  Corner  at  ye  head  of  Sumer  Street 
passing  by  ye  South  Meeting  House  to  Haughs  Corner Marlborough  Street. 

"  The  Street  from  the  Lower  end  of  School  Street  Leading  Norths  as  far  as 
Mr  Clark  the  Pewterers  Shop Corn   Hill. 

The  "  Late  Deacon  Eliots  House  "  was  on  the  south  corner  of 
Boylston  Street,  "  Frog  Lane."  He  was  Jacob  Eliot,  a  founder  of  the 
South  Church,  and  a  large  land  holder.  His  estate  on  this  corner 
comprised  his  house  and  large  garden  lot.  This  link  had  been  laid 
out  through  his  "  Field  "  which  spread  southward  from  the  present 
Eliot  Street,  and  through  "  Coleburn's  Field  "  which  adjoined  Eliot's, 
and  the  south  bound  of  which  was  at  the  north  side  of  the  present 
Castle  Street.  "  Coleburne  "  was  Deacon  William  Coleborn,  or 
Colborn,  a  neighbor  of  Eliot's  and  also  a  townsman  of  consequence. 
His  house  and  garden  were  opposite  Eliot's,  on  the  north  corner  of 
Frog  Lane.  The  site  of  Eliot's  house  at  a  later  day  was  occupied 
by  "  Peggy  Moore's  "  tavern,  where  the  country  farmers  coming  into 
town  with  their  garden  truck  and  other  farm  products  were  wont  to 
stop.  So  sharp  and  keen  was  the  countrymen's  bartering  here  that 
the  place  came  to  be  dubbed  "  Shaving  Corner."  Peggy  Moore's 
successor  was  the  more  dignified  Boylston  Market,  erected  early  in 
the  nineteenth  century.  This,  one  of  Bulfinch's  notable  designs  in 
public  buildings,  and  named  for  a  generous  member  of  the  Boylston 
family  —  Ward  Nicholas  Boylston,  the  giver  of  Boylston  Hall  to  Har- 
vard College, —  survived  till  it  had  attained  the  distinction  of  a  vene- 
rated landmark,  when  it  in  turn  succumbed  to  the  destroyer,  much 
lamented  by  old  Bostonians,  and  made  way  for  the  present  business 
block  on  this  corner.  The  name  of  Orange  selected  for  this  link  was, 
obviously,  in  honor  of  the  house  of  Orange. 

The  "  House  in  ye  Tenure  of  Cap1  Turfrey  "  may  have  been  at 
about  the  corner  of  Essex  Street.  The  "  House  of  Sam11  Sewall 
Esqr  "  was  where  is  now  the  Jordan  Marsh  Company's  main  store, 
midway  between  Avon  and  Summer  Streets.  He  was  that  rare 
personage  in  Colonial  history,  Judge  Samuel  Sewall,   of  the    "  witch- 


WASHINGTON  STREET,  FROM   WATER  STREET  TO  THE   OLD  SOUTH   CHURCH    IN  1857 


craft  "  court  that  condemned  the  "  witches  "  of  Salem,  and  the 
choicest  of  Boston  diarists,  whose  Diary  of  intimate  details  of  Boston 
life  between  the  years  1674  and  1729  is  to  Boston  what  Pepys'  was  to 
London.     In  this  house  much  of  that  Diary  was  written. 

"  Doct.  Okes  Corner  "  was  the  south  corner  of  Summer  Street. 
"  Doct.  Okes  "  was  Dr.  Thomas  Oakes,  a  brother  of  the  Rev.  Urian 
Oakes,  minister  of  Cambridge  and  president  of  Harvard  College, 
1631-81.  He  was  a  favorite  practitioner,  and  Judge  Sewall's  family 
physician,  frequently  mentioned  in  the  Diary.  He  was  also  a  man  of 
affairs.  After  the  overthrow  of  Andros  by  the  "  bloodless  revolu- 
tion "  of  1689,  he  was  one  of  its  two  members  which  the  General 
Court  sent  to  England  as  agents  of  the  colony  with  Rev.  Increase 
Mather  and  Sir  Henry  Ashurst. 

"  Peneman's  Corner  at  ye  head  of  Sumer  Street  "  was  the  north 
corner.  Summer  Street  appears  to  have  been  thus  named  at  this 
time.  At  least  it  was  called  "  Seven  Star  Lane  "  in  place  of  the  Mill 
Lane  so  late  as  1704,  for  Sewall  mentions  it  in  his  Diary  at  that  time. 
The  present  official   Record  of   Streets   sets   it  down  as   Seven   Star 


WASHINGTON  STREET,  LOOKING  NORTH  FROM  FRANKLIN  STREET,  IN  1872 


.***» 


NEWSPAPER  ROW,  WASHINGTON   STREET,  IN   1870 


Lane  from  1758  to  1773.  The  name  was  taken  from  the  Seven  Star 
Inn  which  stood  on  the  upper  corner  of  Bishop's  Lane,  now  Hawley 
Street,  and  was  succeeded  by  the  first  Trinity  Church  erected  in  1734- 
35,  which,  in  1828,  made  way  for  the  second  Trinity  —  that  massive 
temple  of  rough-hewn  granite  and  ponderous  square  front  tower, 
which  went  down  in  the  "  Great  Fire  of  1872,"  its  broken  tower  and 
partly  crumbled  walls  presenting  the  most  picturesque  ruin  of  all  in 
that  costly  conflagration.  The  "  Peneman  "  at  the  Street's  head  was 
presumably  James  Peneman.  In  the  Selectmen's  Records,  under 
date  of  March  6th,  1710-11,  and  again  March  19th,  "  Doct.  James 
Peneman  "  is  named  with  others  to  be  "  Posted  up  as  Tipplers." 
The  bibulous  gentleman  and  the  corner  occupant  may  have  been  one 


FIRST  CHURCH  OF  BOSTON,  SECOND  LOCATION,  ON  SITE  OF  ROGERS  BUILDING 


and  the  same.  A  later  record  is  more  reputable:  "  [June  22,  1714]. 
Liberty  is  granted  to  James  Peneman  to  sett  two  posts  in  ye  H.  way 
before  his  House  to  range  wth  Mr  Marions  posts  Seven  foot  north  ward 
of  ye  corner  of  his  House."  Mr.  Marion  was  Deacon  John  Marion, 
long  a  selectman.  Penniman's  Corner,  Summer  Street,  is  mentioned 
in  the  Town  Records  in  1735,  in  the  town's  ward  divisions. 

"  Ye  South  Meeting  House"  was  the  first  South  Church,  the 
11  little  cedar  meeting-house  "  erected  in  1669-70  which  the  present 
brick  Old  South  succeeded  in  1729-30.  This  was  the  church  in  which 
Margaret  Brewster,  the  Quaker,  made  that  demonstration  on  a  July 
Sunday  of  1677  which  Sewall  thus  describes:  "In  Sermon  Time  a 
Female  Quaker  slipt  in  covered  with  a  Canvas  Frock,  having  her 
hair  dishevelled  and  Loose,  and  powdered  with  Ashes  resembling  a 
flaxen  or  white  Periwigg,  her  face  as  black  as  Ink,  being  led  by  two 
Quakers  and  followed  by  two  more.  It  occasioned  a  great  and  very 
amazing  Uproar."  And  well  it  might.  For  Mistress  Brewster  thus 
arrayed  in  the  Biblical  "  sackcloth  and  ashes,"  delivered  to  the  startled 
congregation  a  solemn  warning  of  the  approach  upon  the  town  of  a 
great  calamity  "  called  the  black  pox,"  as  a  punishment  for  the  per- 
secution of  the  Quakers  ;  then  slipt  out  with  her  companions  as  quietly 
as  she  had  entered.      Subsequently  the  unhappy  woman  was  sentenced 


RUINS  OF  THE  FIRE  OF  1872  AT  THE  CORNER  OF  SUMMER  AND  WASHINGTON  STREETS 


for  this  offence  to  be  "  whipt  at  the  carts  tail  up  and  down  the  town 
with  twenty  lashes,"  and  duly  suffered  the  dreadful  penalty.  It  was 
this  Puritan  meetinghouse  that  in  1686  Andros  ordered  opened  Sunday 
forenoons  to  the  first  Episcopal  Church  which  had  been  established 
in  the  Town- House,  the  Colonial  council  having  refused  the  use  of 
any  of  the  meetinghouses  ;  and  upon  one  occasion,  when  the  Church 
of  England  service  extended  into  the  afternoon  reserved  for  the 
regular  orthodox  congregation,  Judge  Sewall  chronicled  the  "  sad 
sight  "  it  was  "  to  see  how  full  the  street  was  of  people,  gazing  and 
moving  to  and  fro  because  they  had  not  entrance  into  the  church." 
Here  in  1688,  on  a  winter's  night,  was  performed  the  ceremonious 
burial  service  over  Lady  Andros,  the  governor's  American  wife,  of 
which  our  diarist  gives  this  vivid  relation.  "  Friday,  Feb.  10.  1687. 
.  .  .  Between  7.  and  8.  (Lychors  illuminating  the  cloudy  air)  The 
Corps  was  carried  into  the  Herse  drawn  by  Six  Horses.  The  Souldiers 
making  a  Guard  from  the  Governor's  House  down  the  Prison  Lane 
[Court  Street]  to  the  South  Meetinghouse,  there  taken  out  and  carried 
in  at  the  western  dore,  and  set  in  the  Alley  before  the  pulpit,  with  Six 
Mourning  Women  by  it.  House  made  light  with  Candles  and  Torches. 
Was  a  great  noise  and  clamor  to  keep  people  out  of  the  House,  that 
might  not  rush  in  too  soon.  ...  It  seems  Mr.  Ratcliff's  Text  was, 
Cry,  all  flesh  is  Grass."  It  was  here  in  1697,  five  years  after  the  Salem 
witchcraft  frenzy,  at  the  service  on  the  Fast  Day  of  ' '  humiliation  and 
penitence  "  for  what  had  been  amiss  in  the  Colony's  acts  in  that  tragedy, 
that  Judge  Sewall  humbly  made  his  public  declaration  of  contrition 
for  his  share,  as  a  judge,  in  the  shame,  standing  up  in  his  pew  as  his 
11  bill,"  which  he  had  slipped  into  the  minister's  hand,  was  read  from 
the  pulpit,  and  "bowing  when  finished."  And  this  was  the  little 
meetinghouse  in  which,  in  January,  1705-06,  on  the  day  of  his  birth, 
Benjamin  Franklin  was  christened,  the  infant  philosopher  being  brought 
across  from  his  birthplace,  the  humble  tenement  that  stood  opposite 
the  meetinghouse's  side,  and  marked  by  the  building  No.  19  Milk 
Street. 

"  Haughs  Corner"  was  the  south  corner  of  School  Street:  so 
called  from  Atherton  Hough,  whose  house  and  garden  were  first  here. 
He  had  been  an  alderman  in  old  Boston  in  England  and  had  come 
out  with  the  Rev.  John  Cotton. 

The  name  of  Marlborough  was  given  this  link  in  honor  of  the 
great  English  soldier. 

"  The  Lower  end  of  School  Street,"  was  the  north  corner  marked 
by  the  Hutchinson  lot,  within  which  was  first,  from  1633  to  1637,  the 
home  of  Mistress  Anne  Hutchinson  the  central  figure  in  the  fierce 
11  Antinomian  Controversy,"  resulting  in  her  banishment,  "  for 
traducing  the  ministers  and  their  ministry  in  the  country,"  in  holding 
to  the  "  covenant  of  faith  "  as  against  a  "  covenant  of  works," —  and 


THE  PULPIT  OF  THE  OLD   SOUTH  CHURCH  IN  1850 


WASHINGTON    STREET,   LOOKING    SOUTH   FROM   WATER   STREET,   IN    1850,   FROM   AN 

ETCHING   MADE  AT  THE  TIME 


the  banishment  of  several  others  and  the  disarming  and  disfranchise- 
ment of  many  more,  of  her  adherents.  "  Mr  Clark  the  Pewter er  " 
is  unknown  to  fame.  His  shop  was  presumably  at  the  head  of  the 
Town  Dock. 


THE    OLD    CORNER   BOOKSTORE,    WASHINGTON   AND    SCHOOL    STREETS,    IN    1905 


In  the  next  publication  of  a  list  of  streets,  which  was  made  in 
the  ' '  Vade  Mecum  in  America,  A  Companion  for  Traders  and  Travel- 
lers," issued  in  1732,  "  Peneman's  Corner  "  became  "  Bethune's 
Corner";  and  "  Mr  Clark  the  Pewterer5  Shop,"  "  Colson's  Stone 
Store."     Colson's  stood  fronting  Dock  Square. 

No  further  list  of  streets  was  published  till  after  the  Revolution. 
Then,  in  1788,  the  selectmen  issued  a  "  Supplementary  List,"  record- 
ing the  names  of  "  some  new  streets  and  the  alterations  made  subse- 
quently to  the  Revolution  in  the  name  of  old  ones  "  ;  and  in  this,  with 
the  changes  of  King  to  State  Street,  Queen  to  Court,  and  so  on,  the 
name  of  "  Washington  Street  "  makes  its  first  appearance.  It  had 
been  given  that  year  —  July  4th  quite  fittingly  —  to  the  Neck  part 
of  this  thoroughfare :  ' '  From  Orange  Street  at  the  Fortification  to 
the  Bounds  of  the  Town  at  the  Roxbury  Line."  The  next  year,  1789, 
it  was  properly  dedicated  when  President  Washington,  upon  his 
memorable  visit  to  New  England,  made  his  stately  entry  into  the  town 
over  it  —  after  having  been  held  up  at  the  Roxbury  line  in  the  chilling 


vSi 


.y;::Hfc.:-.-.fc:-  K,. 


LOOKING  DOWN  FROM  MILK  STREET,  FROM  WASHINGTON  STREET  AFTER  THE  GREAT 

FIRE  OF  1872 

air  (it  was  late  October)  such  an  unconscionable  time  by  an  alterca- 
tion between  the  Boston  selectmen  and  Sheriff  Henderson,  represent- 
ing Governor  Hancock,  over  the  control  of  the  escorting  procession, 
which  ended  with  the  sheriff's  triumph  only  with  his  threat  to  "  make 
a  hole  "  through  some  of  the  town's  officers,  that  many  in  the  waiting 
crowd  caught  an  influenza  which  local  distemper  long  after  was  termed 
"  the  Washington  cold." 

The  other  links  of  the  thoroughfare  retained  their  Colonial  names 
for  thirty-five  years  longer.  The  next  official  list  of  streets  issued  in 
1800  (no  list  appeared  in  the  first  Boston  Directories  issued  respec- 
tively in  1789  and  1796),  a  print  of  Benjamin  Edes  &  Son,  leading 
printers  of  that  day,  showed  these  changes  in  the  definition  of  the  thor- 
oughfare's bounds : 

Orange  Street  —  from   "Deacon  Brown's,   where  the  Old  Fortification  stood, 
to  Mr  Morse's  corner  store  head  of  Essex  Street." 

Newbury  —  "  thence  to  Dr.  Jarvis's  Corner,  at  the  turning  to  Trinity  Church." 
Marlborough  —  "  to  Brimmer's  Corner  at  the  bottom  of  School  Street." 
Cornhill  —  "to  the  Store  of  Mr.  Tuckerman  opposite  Sam  Elliot's." 

From  the  latter  point   "  round  Faneuil  Hall   (including  the  late 

Town  Dock).    &  back  by  S.  Brazer's  corner  to  King's  Tavern,"  were 

the  bounds  of  Dock  and  Market  Squares. 


"  Deacon  Brown's"  warehouse  was  where  the  William's  Market 
House  long  stood,  and  is  now  a  theatre.  It  was  called  the  "  Green 
Store  "  from  the  color  adopted  for  its  exterior.  It  was  succeeded  by 
the  "  Green  Stores  "  of  John  D.  Williams  which  made  way  for  the 
William's  Market.  The  British  post  was  here  at  the  time  of  the  Siege. 
The  Old  Fortification  in  this  case  was  that  which  Gage  had  strength- 
ened. "  Dr.  Jarvis's  Corner"  was  presumably  Dr.  Charles  Jarvis's. 
In  the  Directory  of  1789  "  Jarvis  buildings,  Newbury  Street  "  are 
named.  "  Brimmer's  Corner  "  was  the  old  Hutchinson  estate  corner, 
which  Mr.  Herman  Brimmer  had  acquired  in  1795,  and  was  now 
marked  by  the  present  building,  dating  from  1712,  which  later  became 
the  famous  "  Old  Corner  Bookstore." 

The  old  Colonial  names  were  all  finally  discarded  in  1824,  and  the 
name  of  Washington  applied  to  the  whole  thoroughfare  within  the 
then  Boston  bounds.  The  next  year  it  was  given  to  the  connecting 
parts  in  Roxbury.  In  subsequent  years  connecting  outward  high- 
ways received  it,  and  the  northern  city  end  was  extended,  till  ulti- 
mately Washington  Street  became  the  cross-state  thoroughfare  of 
today  reaching  from  Haymarket  Square  through  the  length  of  Boston 
and  towns  beyond  to  Providence  in  Rhode  Island. 

The  aspect  of  the  Colonial  thoroughfare  —  the  three  links  that 
came  to  be  Cornhill,  Marlborough  and  Newbury  Streets  —  may  be 
pictured  with  accuracy  in  detail  practically  from  the  beginning. 


THE  LAMB  TAVERN,  LOCATED   ON  THE  PRESENT  SITE  OF  THE  ADAMS  HOUSE 


CORNER    HARVARD    PLACE    AND    WASHINGTON    STREET    IN    1856 


Starting  from  the  Town  Dock,  we  have,  in  the  Cornhill  link, 
first,  at  the  head  of  Dock  Square,  or  about  what  is  now  the  southeast 
corner  of  Adams  Square,  "  The  King's  Arms  "  tavern,  which  flourished 
from  1650  or  earlier  into  the  Province  period.  At  the  turn  of  the 
thoroughfare  from  Dock  Square,  on  the  west  side :  the  house,  garden, 
and  "  close  "  of  Captain  William  Tyng,  brother  of  Edward  Tyng, 
both  possessors  of  large  estates.  East  side,  opposite  the  foot  of  the 
present  Cornhill:  the  house,  garden,  and  "housings,"  including  two 
shops,  of  Major  Edward  Gibbons.  One  of  the  shops  was  occupied 
by  Major  Thomas  Savage,  tailor,  he  of  Indian  wars  fame.  Northwest 
corner  of  Court  Street,  the  Ames  building  site :  house  and  yard  of  the 
Rev.  Henry  Dunster,  first  president  of  Harvard  College.  He  moved 
early  to  Cambridge.  North  east  corner  of  State  Street :  house  and 
shop  of  John  Cogan.  Cogan's  was  the  first  shop  for  merchandise 
opened  in  the  town  —  in  1634.  Thus  he  was  the  earliest  Boston  mer- 
chant, and  this  thoroughfare  was  the  first  shopping  street.  Cogan 
was  a  man  of  consequence  in  the  community.  He  had  other  shops, 
and  other  estates.  He  married  Governor  Winthrop's  widow — the 
governor's  fourth  wife, —  who  survived  him,  thrice  widowed,  for  she 


was  a  widow  when  married  to  the  governor.  West  side :  house  and 
garden  of  John  Leverett,  later  "  the  military  governor,"  who  had  served 
in  Cromwell's  armies  as  a  captain  of  horse  through  the  whole  Civil 
War.  East  side:  the  marketstead,  from  1630,  till  the  erection  of  the 
first  Town  and  State  House,  in  1657-58.  In  course  of  time  the  Town 
House  became  surrounded  by  booksellers'  shops.  Southeast  corner 
of  State  Street:  house  and  garden  of  Major,  after  Captain,  Robert 
Keayne,  tailor,  and  merchant,  who  became  the  richest  man  in  the  town 
in  his  day ;  most  distinguished  as  a  founder  and  the  leading  charter 
member  of  the  Honorable  Artillery  Company,  as  maker  of  the  longest 
will  on  record,  and  as  provider  for  the  first  Town- House.  Public 
spirited  as  he  was,  he  could  not  escape  fine  of  the  court  and  discipline 
of  the  church  on  charges  of  taking  exorbitant  profits  in  the  sale  of  foreign 
commodities — "in  some,  above  six-pence  in  the  shilling  profit,  in 
some,  above  eight-pence."  In  the  next  century  Daniel  Henchman's 
bookstore  long  occupied  this  corner  ;  and  here,  in  the  employ  of  Hench- 
man's successors,  Wharton  &  Bowers,  General  Harry  Knox  began 
his  career  as  a  booksellers'  clerk.  Early  Knox  set  up  his  own  estab- 
lishment, the  "  New  London  Bookstore,"  on  the  same  side  of  the  thor- 
oughfare, opposite  Williams  Court.  West  side,  where  is  now  Rogers 
Building  :  the  second  meetinghouse,  built  in  1640,  after  the  first  one 
was  given  up.  At  a  later  day,  south  of  Court  Avenue,  "  near  the  Old 
Meetinghouse"  was  Nicholas  Boone's  bookshop  from  which  in  1704 
was  published  The  Boston  News  Letter,  the  first  newspaper  in  America 
to  be  permanently  established.  Above  the  meetinghouse :  house  and 
garden  of  Major-General  Robert  Sedgwick.  Nearly  opposite  the  head 
of  Water  Street:  Cole's  "  Ordinary,"  the  first  tavern  in  the  town, 
1634.     Above,  to  the  School  Street  corner:  the  Hutchinson  house  and 


/A 


PLAN    OF   BOSTON    IN    1800,    SHOWING    MARLBOROUGH    (NOW    WASHINGTON)  STREET 


OLD  STATE  HOUSE  IN  1805,  SHOWING  SECOND  LOCATION  OF  FIRST  CHURCH,  WHERE 
THE   ROGERS   BUILDING   NOW  STANDS 


garden  lot.  Again  on  the  east  side  — -  where  the  Globe  Building 
stands:  house  and  garden  of  Richard  Fairbanks;  later,  the  "Blue 
Anchor  Tavern."  Between  north  of  Water  Street  and  Spring  Lane: 
house  and  garden  of  Deacon  Thomas  Oliver.  Spring  Lane  :  the  early 
"  Spring-gate,"  leading  to  the  public  spring  and  watering  place. 

All  the  structures  of  the  Colony  period  which  we  have  mentioned, 
in  this  Cornhill  link,  dwellings,  shops,  taverns,  the  Town-House,  the 
Meetinghouse,  disappeared  in  the  second  decade  of  the  Province 
period,  wiped  out  by  the  "  Great  Fire  of  1711,"  the  eighth  disastrous 
visitation  by  fire  that  the  town  had  suffered  in  its  short  history.  Start- 
ing early  on  an  October  evening  near  the  Meetinghouse,  in  the  back- 
yard of  a  tenement  on  a  court,  among  a  heap  of  oakum  and  combustible 
rubbish  which  a  wretched  old  drunken  oakum-picker  had  been  over- 
hauling with  a  light,  it  swept  on  a  high  wind  both  sides  of  Cornhill ; 
and  also  spread  over  all  the  upper  part  of  King  Street,  and  through 
Pudding  Lane  —  Devonshire  Street  —  between  Water  Street  and 
Spring  Lane.  Increase  Mather  found  the  cause  of  it  in  the  wrath 
of  God  at  the  profanation  of  the  Sabbath  by  the  generality.  "  Has 
not   God's   Holy  Day  been  Prophaned  in  New  England?     Have  not 


CORNER  WASHINGTON  AND  WATER  STREETS,  WHERE  THE  JOURNAL  BUILDING  NOW 

STANDS 


Burdens  been  carried  through  the  streets  on  the  Sabbath  Day?  Have 
not  Bakers,  Carpenters,  and  other  Tradesmen  been  employed  in  Servile 
Works  on  the  Sabbath  Day?  "  he  queried  in  his  sermon,  "  Burnings 
Bewayled,"  the  Sunday  after.  The  town  and  the  selectmen  however, 
instead  of  buttressing  the  Sunday  laws  more  practically  stiffened  the 
building  regulations.  Accordingly  a  better  Cornhill  arose.  The 
Meetinghouse  was  rebuilt  in  brick  instead  of  wood ;  so  were  the  Town 
and  State  House  (to  be  burned  again  in  1747,  and  rebuilt  in  1748  as 
we  see  it,  practically,  today)  ;  and  so  were  the  best  of  the  houses. 
The  "  Old  Corner  Bookstore  "  of  after  years  is  supposed  to  have  been 
the  first  of  these  best  houses  erected. 

In  the  Colonial  Marlborough  link,  with  the  Atherton  Haugh  lot 
marking  the  bound  on  the  west  side,  we  have,  at  the  outset,  the  lot 
of  Governor  Winthrop  extending  from  Spring  Lane  to  Milk  Street  as 
the  east  side  bound;  and  above  these,  on  either  side,  the  houses  and 
gardens  of  notables  and  artisans  comfortably  intermingled.  In  course 
of  time  the  modest  mansion  of  the  first  governor  of  the  Colony  arose 
on  his  lot  (his  second  home,  the  first  one  having  been  on  King-State 
Street),  and  some  four  decades  later,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  way, 
the  far  grander  mansion  which  became  the  official  dwelling  of  the 
royal  governors  of  the  Province;  the  two,  in  marked  contrast,  giving 
a  special  distinction  to  this  part  of  the  link,  which  might  well  have 
been  termed  "  Governor's  Row." 

The  Winthrop  mansion  became  the  South  Church  parsonage 
with  the  erection  of  the  first  South  Meetinghouse  on  the  "  Governor's 
Green  "  at  its  side,  in  1669.  Here  the  Rev.  Thomas  Prince,  among 
its  most  distinguished  occupants,  wrote  his  "Annals";  and  it  was 
from  his  library,  bequeathed  by  him  to  the  church,  and  stored  in  the 
11  steeple  chamber  "  of  the  present  Old  South  at  the  time  of  the 
Revolution,  that  the  Bradford  manuscript  history  of  Plymouth  Colony 
was  taken  during  the  Siege,  when  the  meetinghouse  was  used  as  a 
riding  school  for  Burgoyne's  troopers,  to  be  found  a  century  after 
in  England  and  graciously  restored  to  the  State.  The  old  mansion 
remained,  a  treasured  landmark,  till  the  British  soldiers  pulled  it 
down  in  the  winter  of  the  Siege  for  firewood. 

On  the  west  side,  at  first,  as  recorded  in  the  Town  Book  of  Pos- 
sessions, we  have,  next  above  the  Atherton  Haugh  corner:  the  house 
and  garden  of  Francis  Lyle,  or  Lysle,  a  barber-surgeon,  skilful  in  his 
trade ;  and  next  above  Lysle :  the  house  and  garden  of  Thomas  Millard, 
which  later  became  the  Province  House  estate.  Millard  died  in  1669 
and  his  home  lot,  encumbered,  passed  to  Colonel  Samuel  Shrimpton, 
then  the  largest  landholder  in  the  town  ;  and  Shrimpton  sold  it  to 
Colonel  Peter  Sergeant  who  built  the  mansion  that  became  the  Province 
House.  Colonel  Sergeant  was  an  opulent  London  merchant  who 
came  to  Boston  in   1667,   and  from  that  time  till  his   death  in  1714 


THE   BEGINNING    OF   WASHINGTON    STREET.     THE   BUILDING   IN    THE   FOREGROUND 
WAS    REMOVED    WHEN    WASHINGTON    STREET    WAS    CARRIED    THROUGH    TO 

ADAMS  SQUARE 


was  a  man  of  consequence  in  the  town.  He  bought  this  ample  lot 
in  1676,  then  measuring  eighty-six  feet  on  the  thoroughfare,  nearly 
opposite  the  head  of  Milk  Street,  two  hundred  and  sixty  feet  northerly, 
seventy-seven  westerly,  and  two  hundred  and  sixty-six  southerly, 
for  the  paltry  sum  of  £350  —  contrast  this  with  the  values  of  today! — 
and  forty  years  later,  in  1715,  the  Province  acquired  from  his  heirs 
the  whole  vastly  improved  estate,  with  the  mansion-house  then  the 
most  remarkable  in  town,  for  £2300.  As  the  Province  House,  it  be- 
came the  "  central  scene  of  the  chief  pageantries,  gaieties,  and  formali- 
ties of  the  king's  vice-regal  court  in  Boston  "  ;  and  Hawthorne  has 
immortalized  it  in  his  fanciful  "  Legends."  The  present  Province 
Court  and  Province  Street  were  originally  ways  to  the  stables  and 
rear  grounds  of  the  mansion  when  it  became  the  Province  House. 
After  the  Revolution  it  became  the  Government  House  and  as  such 
was  the  place  of  the  sittings  of  the  Governor  and  council  for  a  while. 
Then,  given  over  to  commercial  uses,  it  fell  in  the  social  scale.  At 
length  it  was  utilized  for  negro  minstrelsy,  first,  in  1852,  as  '  Ordway 
Hall  "  under  the  management  of  John  P.  Ordway,  who  in  mature 
life  became  a  local  physician  of  note,  and  afterward,  as  "  Morris 
Brothers,  Pell,  and  Trowbridge's  Opera  House  "  of  pleasant  memories. 
Finally  it  was  swept  away,  all  but  its  walls,  by  a  fire  in  1864. 

Continuing  on  this  side,  we  have,  according  to  the  Book  of  Pos- 
sessions, next  above  the  Millard  lot:  the  house  and  garden  of  Thomas 
Grubb,  leather  dresser.  Next  above  Grubb,  about  on  the  line  of  the 
present  Bromfield  Street :  the  larger  estate  of  William  Aspinwall, 
notary  public,  and  "recorder"  after  his  return  from  banishment, 
he  being  one  of  those  banished  as  an  adherent  of  Mistress  Anne 
Hutchinson.  Subsequently,  Edward  Rawson,  the  Colonial  secretary, 
acquired  a  part  of  the  Aspinwall  lot,  and  his  name  was  given  to  the 
present  Bromfield  Street  as  "  Rawson's  Lane."  It  took  on  the  name 
of  Bromfield  from  Edward  Bromfield  a  leading  merchant  of  the  Province 
period,  after  his  death,  in  1734,  in  his  eighty-sixth  year.  Mr.  Brom- 
field had  long  been  a  resident  on  the  lane,  his  mansion  standing  on 
the  south  side,  the  site  afterward  occupied  by  the  "  Indian  Queen 
Tavern,"  and  its  successor,  the  "  Bromfield  House." 

Again  on  the  east  side  we  have  first  on  the  upper  corner  of  Milk 
Street:  Robert  Reynolds,  shoemaker.  It  was  at  the  easterly  end  of 
this  lot  that  stood  the  tenement  which  Josiah  Franklin  occupied  at 
his  first  coming  with  his  family  about  1685,  and  was  the  eminent 
Benjamin's  birthplace.  Later,  dating  from  about  1673,  a  little  south 
of  the  present  Transcript  building:  the  "  Blue  Bell  and  Indian  Queen 
Tavern,"  built  on  both  sides  of  a  narrow  passage  here  cut  through 
to  Hawley  Street.  This  was  a  famous  inn  through  a  long  day  extend- 
ing into  the  nineteenth  century.  In  early  stage-coach  times  it  was 
the  regular  stopping  place  of  various  long-distance  lines.     About  1820 


THE  EAST  SIDE  OF  WASHINGTON  STREET,  LOOKING  SOUTH  FROM  MILK  STREET 

IN  1856 


the  ancient  tavern  was  succeeded  by  the  "  Washington  Coffee  House," 
which  in  the  forties  was  made  the  terminus  of  the  daily  Dorchester 
stages.  The  coffee  house  in  turn  disappeared  in  the  fifties  and  its 
site  was  occupied  by  Messrs.  Macullar,  Williams    &  Company. 

West  side  again,  the  earlier  occupants  between  Bromfield  and 
Winter  Streets :  Ephraim  Pope,  Edmund  Dennis,  Edward  Jacklin> 
glazier,  after  him,  in  1646,  Nicholas  Busbie,  worsted  weaver,  William 


SAVING  THE  OLD  SOUTH  CHURCH  IN  THE  GREAT  FIRE  OF  1872 


I.--   v  J5 


vffSiSt  ** 


THE  PROVINCE  HOUSE,   ON  THE  WEST  SIDE  OF  WASHINGTON  STREET,  PRESENT 

SITE  OF  PROVINCE  COURT 


Townsend,  and  Richard  Parker's  widow,  all  with  houses  and  gardens. 
In  the  late  eighteenth  century,  nearly  opposite  the  present  Franklin 
Street  head:  the  "  Rising  Sun"  tavern,  from  which  early  in  the  nine- 
teenth century  evolved  the  Marlboro  Hotel  which  remained  long  a 
landmark. 

The  inconvenience  of  carrying  on  the  lectures  of  Harvard  Medical 
School  in  Cambridge  soon  brought  about  the  removal  of  the  School 
to  Boston.  In  1810  the  Corporation  and  Overseers,  at  the  request  of 
Drs.  Warren  and  Dexter,  who  lived  in  Boston,  and  against  the  protest  of 
Dr.  Waterhouse,  who  lived  in  Cambridge,  voted  that  the  lectures  in 


anatomy  and  in  surgery  and  in  chemistry  be  delivered  in  Boston. 
Accordingly  a  theatre  with  other  rooms  was  provided  by  Dr.  Warren 
at  49  Marlborough  Street  (now  400  Washington  Street)  in  Boston,  in 
the  same  building  with  the  hall  and  library  of  the  Massachusetts 
Medical  Society,  and  hither  the  instruction  of  the  School  was  removed 

The  Colonial  Newbury  link  was  similarly  marked  at  first  by  houses 
and  gardens  with  a  few  shops.  In  the  Province  period  it  became  a 
favorite  place  for  taverns.  Earliest  of  these  was  the  "  Lamb  Tavern," 
which  stood  where  is  now  the  Adams  House.  It  was  built  about 
1740,  and  displayed  a  large  swing  sign  embellished  with  a  painted 
white  lamb.  It  was  made  the  starting  point  of  the  stage-coaches 
of  the  first  Boston  and  Providence  line  which  began  operations  in  1767. 
A  little  above,  nearly  opposite  the  head  of  Hayward  Place,  was  the 
"  White  Horse,"  with  its  sign  of  a  white  charger.  Above,  on  the 
opposite  side:  the  "Liberty  Tavern,"  close  by  the  "Liberty  Tree," 
where  is  now  Brigham's.  Below  the  "  Lamb,"  where  is  now  Keith's 
"Bijou"  annex;  the  "Grand  Turk,"  of  later  date,  afterward  the 
"  Lion,"  and  still  later  the  "  Red  Lion,"  which  flourished  till  the 
eighteen  thirties  when  it  was  transformed  into  a  theatre. 

The  mixture  of  Colonial  houses,  mansions,  and  shops  bordering 
both  sides  marked  the  Marlborough  link  through  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury and  into  the  nineteenth.  The  first  Boston  Directories, —  1789 
and  1796, —  listed  here  merchants,  general  shopkeepers,  tailors, 
leather  breeches  makers,  apothecaries,  booksellers  and  stationers, 
bookbinders,   leather  dressers,   brass   founders,    saddlers,   pewterers, 


sas^wiggft  win  mmim   AWlS      1  ft  It 

ml- "•"'Mil  a\* 


EAST  SIDE  OF   WASHINGTON    STREET  IN  1860,  FROM  MACULLAR  PARKER  &  COMPANY 

BUILDING  TO    SUMMER   STREET 


0«w 


:      iff! 


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WASHINGTON    STREET,   FROM   SCHOOL  TO   STATE  STREETS,   IN    1850,    SHOWING    OLD 

CORNER  BOOKSTORE  AT   LEFT 


crockery  ware  dealers,  hardware  dealers,  goldsmiths  and  jewellers, 
watch  makers,  upholsterers  and  lace  manufacturers,  mantua  makers, 
milliners,  hair  dressers,  brush  manufacturers,  paper  stainers,  painters 
and  glaziers,  masons,  housewrights,  blacksmiths,  cordwainers,  grocers, 
bakers,  wine  stores,  physicians,  dentists,  brokers,  school  mistresses. 
Among  the  merchants  are  found  such  well-known  names  as  John 
and  Thomas  Amory,  Samuel  and  Stephen  Salisbury,  Benjamin  Vin- 
cent. Among  the  booksellers  :  John  Boyle,  Joseph  Nancrede,  William 
Spotswood,  David  West.  Physicians :  Dr.  John  Homans,  and  Dr. 
Alexander  Abercrombie  Peters.  Ebenezer  Hancock,  brother  of  John, 
appears  as  "  keeper  of  powder  house."  Among  the  residents:  Ben- 
jamin Hitchborn ;  Capt.  Eleazer  Johnson,  Amasa  Penneman,  and 
Abiel  Winship,  merchants;  John  B.  Sohier ;  Caleb  Hopkins,  "  gentle- 
man "  ;  and  Charles  Bulfinch,  the  architect. 

In  1800  corner  estates  were  thus  valued,  as  Mr.  Walter  Kendall 
Watkins  has  quoted :  South  corner  of  School  Street  —  fifteen  hundred 
and  twelve  square  feet  and  a  two-story  wooden  house,  seven  hundred 
and  twenty  square  feet,  $4000  ;  South  corner  of  Bromfield  Street  — 
twenty-seven  hundred  square  feet,  a  brick  house  of  two  stories,  twelve 
hundred  square  feet,  all  at  $2500  ;  north  corner  of  Winter  Street  —  a 
brick  building  of  three  stories  and  a  wooden  building,  occupying  a  lot 
of  forty-nine  hundred  square  feet,  $4000 ;  south  corner  of  Winter 
Street  —  a  two-story  brick  building  seven  hundred  and  eighty  square 
feet,  land  nine  hundred  square  feet,  $2000  with  the  land  ;  south  corner 


of  Summer  Street  —  fifty-nine  hundred  and  forty  square  feet  with  a 
wood  and  chaise  house  four  hundred  and  fifty  square  feet  on  Summer 
Street,  $5000. 

When  in  1824  the  Colonial  names  were  finally  dropped,  and  the 
whole  thoroughfare  took  on  the  name  of  Washington,  the  residences 
had  practically  disappeared  from  this  link  and  it  had  become  dis- 
tinctively a  shopping  quarter.  Its  aspect  in  the  middle  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  is  faithfully  depicted  in  the  "  Panoramic  Views  "  which 
we  reproduce  from  "  Gleason's  Pictorial  "  of  1853.  Here,  thanks  to 
the  honest  if  not  artistic  drawing  of  the  delineator,  we  may  readily 
read  the  signs  of  all  the  establishments  on  either  side  of  the  way. 
Picturesquely  breaking  the  line  of  buildings  just  above  Bromfield 
Street  observe  the  archway  at  the  side  of  the  Marlboro  House.  This 
led  to  a  paved  court  in  which  was  the  Marlboro  Chapel  at  that  time 
occupied  by  the  Lowell  Institute.  The  Chapel  had  been  built  originally 
from  an  L  at  the  rear  of  the  hotel,  in  the  thirties,  for  the  "  First  Free 
Congregational  Church  "  ;  and  after  its  abandonment  for  church  uses 
it  became  the  rendezvous   of  the  various   ultra  organizations   which 


WASHINGTON  STREET  AFTER  THE  GREAT  FIRE  OF  1872,  SHOWING  MACULLAR  PARKER 

&  COMPANY  BUILDING  AT  THE  RIGHT 


THE  ENTRANCE  TO   THE  BOSTON  THEATRE   IN    1856 


flourished  in  Boston  in  the  thirties  and  forties  —  the  "lean  hungry 
savage  anti-everything  "  association,  as  was  Dr.  Holmes's  phrase. 
The  Lowell  Institute  first  occupied  it  in  1846,  when  it  was  renovated, 
and  here  the  Lowell  Institute  Lectures  were  regularly  given  till  1879, 
when  the  Chapel  disappeared.  And  here  was  the  Lowell  Institute's 
free  drawing-school  from  the  life,  established  in  1850,  and  conducted 
with  rare  genius  by  William  Hollingsworth  through  its  whole  career 
of  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century.  On  the  east  side,  above  the 
opening  of  Franklin  Street,  in  the  establishment  of  "  G.  W.  Warren 
&  Co.,  Importers,  Jobbers,  and  Retailers,"  we  have  the  forerunner 
of  the  great  dry  goods  "  emporiums  "  of  the  modern  day.  This  site 
in  the  next  decade  was  occupied  by  Macullar,  Williams    &  Parker. 

In  the  decade  of  1860-70  marked  changes  were  effected  in  the 
architectural  appearance  of  the  link,  and  its  valuation  increased,  with 
the  erection  of  larger,  loftier,  and  more  attractive  buildings  of  modern 
design,  some  of  granite,  some  of  iron,  one  of  marble  front,  in  place  of 
most  of  the  plain  old  ones.  Then  the  "  Great  Fire  of  1872,"  making 
Washington  Street  its  west  bound,  swept  off  all  on  the  east  side  from 
Summer  to  Milk  Street,  leaving  only  a  broken  front  wall  here  and  there 
standing  in  the  midst  of  huge  heaps  of  ruins.  The  great  white  marble 
facade  of  the  Macullar,  Williams  &  Parker  building  alone  withstood 
the  fury  of  the  flames,  and  remained  a  monument  of  the  devastation 
here  till  its  removal  for  the  widening  of  this  link  of  the  thoroughfare. 
The  spread  of  the  fire  below  Milk  Street  was  checked  by  the  blowing 


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THE  ADAMS   HOUSE   IN    1856 


up  of  the  old  building  that  had  been  long  occupied  by  Messrs.  Currier 
&  Trott  on  the  south  corner.  The  Old  South  Meetinghouse,  while 
saved,  suffered  blown-out  windows  and  other  slight  hurts,  from  the 
effect  of  the  explosion  across  the  way. 

An  exhibition  of  generosity  and  thoughtfulness  on  the  part  of  the 
hundreds  of  employees  of  Macullar,  Williams  &  Parker  was  a  note- 
worthy incident  of  the  disaster,  among  many,  illustrating  the  fine 
temper  of  the  community,  as  well  as  the  cordiality  of  the  relations 
existing  between  employer  and  employed  in  this  house.  The  relation 
is  that  of  the  Daily  Advertiser  of  November  14:  "  It  is  the  custom  of 
large  tailoring  establishments,  and  among  them  that  of  Macullar, 
Williams  &  Parker,  to  make  out  their  payrolls  on  Saturdays  and  pay 
their  employees  on  Mondays.  Since  the  fire  it  was  uniformly  agreed 
among  the  girls  who  were  employed  by  this  firm,  partly  in  considera- 
tion of  past  liberality  toward  them  on  the  part  of  their  employers,  to 
decline  to  accept  their  wages  for  last  week's  work,  thinking  that  the 
sum  in  the  aggregate  might  be  acceptable  in  consideration  of  their 
heavy  losses.  On  the  other  hand,  the  members  of  the  firm,  solicitous 
for  the  welfare  of  those  whose  losses  might  be  small  but  sufferings 
great,  told  Miss  Jennie  Collins  [the  noble-hearted  retired  workwoman 


A   SECTION   OF  WASHINGTON   STREET,   BETWEEN   WATER  AND    STATE 

STREETS,  IN   1850 


then  maintaining  the  helpful  institution  of  her  own  founding  —  her 
"  Boffin's  Bower,"  for  working  girls]  to  send  to  them  any  workgirls, 
and  particularly  their  own,  who  might  be  in  need,  and  they  would 
provide  for  them.  This  statement  is  made  to  show  the  good  feeling 
existing  between  employers  and  employed,  and  to  correct  a  possible 
misconception  of  the  case  as  stated  in  an  afternoon  paper." 

The  burned  off  side  was  speedily  rebuilt  finer,  more  substantial, 
and  safer  than  before. 


MACULLAR,  PARKER    &  COMPANY. 

The  house  of  Macullar,  Parker  &  Company  was  founded  in  1848 
by  Addison  Macullar,  who  opened  in  the  city  of  Worcester  in  that 
year  a  small  store  (at  a  rental  of  $250)  for  the  sale  of  ready-made 
clothing  at  retail,  under  the  style  of  A.  Macullar    &  Company. 

In  1852  George  B.  Williams,  who  had  formerly  been  a  fellow 
clerk  with  Mr.  Macullar,  became  associated  with  him  in  the  business, 
and  the  style  of  the  firm  was  thereupon  changed  to  Macullar,  Williams 
&  Company.  In  1852  the  firm  opened  a  house  in  Boston  for  the  manu- 
facture and  sale  of  clothing  at  wholesale.  The  store  occupied  at  that 
time  was  Nos.  35  and  37  Ann,  the  present  North,  Street.  In  1854 
they  moved  to  Milk  Street,  occupying  the  building  then  No.  47. 


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THE  EAST  AND  WEST  SIDES  OF  WASHINGTON  STREET,  FROM  MILK  TO  SUMMER 

STREETS,  IN  1852 


RUINS   OF  THE  MACULLAR  PARKER    &  COMPANY  BUILDING  AFTER  THE  GREAT  FIRE 

OF  1872 


WASHINGTON  STREET,  LOOKING  SOUTH  FROM  SCHOOL  STREET,  IN  1910 


In  November,  1857,  during  the  great  financial  panic  of  that  period, 
they  engaged  temporarily  the  old  Washington  Coffee  House  building 
on  Washington  Street  for  the  purpose  of  disposing  of  their  surplus 
stock  of  clothing  at  retail.  This  was  the  first  stock  of  clothing  of  any 
extent  that  had  ever  been  opened  on  Washington  Street ;  and  the 
immediate  and  large  business  which  was  developed  induced  the  firm 
to  give  up  the  wholesale  business,  and  to  settle  permanently  on  Wash- 
ington Street  and  cater  exclusively  to  the  best  class  of  retail  trade. 

In  1860,  the  old  quarters  having  become  insufficient,  a  removal 
was  made  to  No.  192  Washington  Street,  the  store  which  had  previously 
been  occupied  by  George  W.  Warren  &  Company  for  the  retail  dry 
goods  business.  At  this  time  the  style  of  the  firm  was  changed  to 
Macullar,  Williams  &  Parker,  which  remained  unaltered  for  nineteen 
years,  Mr.  Charles  W.  Parker  who  had  been  associated  with  the  busi- 
ness from  its  commencement  as  boy,  bookkeeper  and  salesman, 
being  admitted  to  the  firm  and  becoming  the  managing  partner. 


JOY'S  BUILDING,  WASHINGTON  STREET,  NEAR  COURT  STREET,  IN  1860 


In  1864,  this  store  also  having  become  too  small  for  their  growing 
business,  another  removal  was  made  to  the  building  on  the  adjoining 
premises,  which  had  been  erected  for  the  firm  by  the  trustees  of  the 
Sears  Estate.  This  was  the  edifice  which  was  destroyed,  with  most 
of  its  contents,  in  the  Great  Fire  of  November  9,  1872.  The  present 
building  was  rebuilt  upon  substantially  the  same  plan  as  the  one 
destroyed,  but  with  some  modifications  and  improvements. 

In  1884  the  adjoining  building,  No.  398,  formerly  192,  becoming 
vacant  by  the  retirement  from  business  of  Palmers  &  Batchelders, 
was  annexed  to  the  main  building  and  occupied  by  the  custom  tailoring 
department  for  which,  with  the  new  department  for  the  sale  of  Stetsor 
Hats,  it  is  occupied  at  the  present  time, 

The  departments  of  the  business  are  Mens*,  Youths',  Boys'  and 
Juvenile  clothing  at  retail.  Mens'  and  Boys'  Furnishing  Goods, 
Custom  Tailoring  for  Men  and  Women,  Stetson  Hats,  Wholesale 
Woolens  and  Tailors'  Trimmings. 

The  upper  stories  of  both  buildings  are  used  for  the  cutting  and 
manufacturing  of  clothing  and  for  the  shrinking  of  fabrics  by  the 
London  Process. 


WASHINGTON    STREET    FROM    SUMMER    STREET    IN    1870 


AVON  PLACE,  NOW  AVON  STREET,  IN  1856. 


D 


C.   B.   WEBSTER     &   COMPANY,   PRINTERS,   BOSTON 


3  Jill 

J  9031   01572582  3 


p  BACON 

73.67 
•W3 

B12 

Bapst  Library 

Boston  College 
Chestnut  Hill  Mass.   02167 


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